Apparatus for the production of expanded metal



March 30 192.

E. T. REDDING ET AL APPARATUS FOR THE PRODUCTION OF EXPANDED METAL 19224 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 27,

5' 1 VENTORS Md MTORNEYJ YWIYTNESS March 30 I926. r 1578,366"

E. T. REDD'ING ET AL APPARATUS FOR THE PRODUCTION OF EXPANDED METALFiled June 27, 1922 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 WITNESS WWN YS v7 I v OJNVE'TORS Jta eous method or process,

Patented Mar. 30, 1926.

UNITED STATES- PA ENT OFFICE.

Enwann mnnnnme am) 1301mm: w. cross, or swrss'vnnn, rmsy'nvanfa,assmnoas 'ro consomna'rnn nxrannnn-unrar. comramns, a eonromrrron Q1PENNSYLVANIA.

I arranarps non 'rnn rnonncrron or EXPANDED Marat...

Application filed June 27, 1922. "Serial No. 571,227. I

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, EnwAnn T. RED- DING, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and LEONARD W. CRoss, a citizen of Great Britain, both residingat Swissvale, 1n the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for theProduction of Expanded Metal, of which the following is a specification.I

Our invention relates to the production of expanded metal fabric, andmore especially to apparatus for this purpose. tion permits andfacilitates'production of the fabric by a novel andhighly advanwhich maybe briefly explained as follows:

Metal fabric is ordinarily. made according to two processes, one theGolding, which is suitable for heavy stock and in which the diamonds aresheared from the blank by reciprocating-die members, and the other thedeployed method, suitable for lighter gauge stock such as used, forexample, for metal lath and the other like meshes, some of which may beof material of heavier weight than ordinarily employed "in lath.

In this last process the blank is slit in a manner well understood andthe metal expanded by grasping the edges. of the slit sheet and pullingthem apart, so that the metal is deployed to produce the diamonds, thestretching of the strands being slight as com ared with the stretchingincident to the oldi'ng process.

The novel process to which we have 1 above referred diners from this olddeploying one in that the various portionsof ihc sheet separated by theslits are displaced transversely out of the original plane of the sheetas a whole to expand it and 0 on up its mesh, instead'of being simply tited in I th-e original plane of the sheet by a direct -i-1JP1111 on theopposite edges in thatplane. Aside from any differences in the finalproduct of these two methods, that of deploying by. transversedisplacement afiords Our invenvarious practical advantages,such'asgreater rapidity and reduced cost of manufacture;

reduction in floor space required; and continuous production of theexpanded product in practically any. width desired.

.How't'hese and other advantages can best be secured will appear fromour description hereinafter of the preferred form .of apparatusembodying our present invention in connection with the production ofexpanded metal fabric therewith by our method of transverse deploying.

In the drawings, Fig. 1 is a plan VleWDf a portion of a longitudinallyslit sheet metal' blank resulting from the preliminary operatlD'flS, andadapted for deploying by the transverse method; Fig. 2' is an end viewof the blank; Fig. 3 is a view of the partially expanded blank lookingedgewise at the unexpanded portion, illustrating the preferred mode ofdeploying in our apparatus; Fig. 4

is a side view of the fully expanded product, witlra portion broken out;and Fig. 5 is an end view of such product; Fig. 6 shows a longitudinalvertical section through our preferred apparatus orqnachine,illustrating the various operations therein; Fig.- ,7 is r i mainly finend view, from the right of Fig.

6, showing certain partsin section as indicated-b' the line 7 -7 in Fig.6; 8 and 9 s low transverse sections through the "apparatus, taken asindicated by the lines 88 and 99 in Figs. 6 and 10 respectively Fig. 10is a side elevation of the apparatus, on a smaller scale; and Fig. 11isa frag mentary plan-view. of the left hand portion of the apparatus aslarger'scale. I

In the production of expanded metal shown in Fig.310, onca fabric withour apparatus by the transverse deploying method, we prepare a slittedblank A y passing a blank sheet through slittin rolls of ordinarygeneral construction an operation (such as the rolls B, B shown at theextreme left of Fig. 6 and in Fig. 11).

Preferably, the rolls employed for this purpose are designed to slit theblank with portion 8, besides leaving it with unslit se connecting thestrands.

vage portions 9,10 along the edges. The slits of each group arestaggered in the usual manner, asshown.

Instead of further upsetting the slit portions of the blank A (asheretofore customary), we preferably pass it through flatten? ing rolls(such as the rolls C, C shown near the left of Fig. 6 and in Fig. 11) totake out the slight upsetting of the strands incident to theslitting'operation; for we find that this gives a greatlyimproved'product, retaining maximum strength at the bridges From theflattening rolls C,'C, the slit blank A passes to the deployingmechanism of our apparatus (comprehensively indicated at D in Figs-6 and10), where it is deployed by transverse displacement, about as indicatedin full lines in Fig. 3. As there shown, the extreme end portions of thesch-ages 9 and 10 have been brought down to a point such that thediamonds a at such end of the blank have been fully deployed 'orexpanded, such expansion being progressively "less 'full or completetoward the right. Successive lengths of the slit portions areprogressively .brought down in this manner, as indicateddiagrammatically in the dotted'lines in Fig. 3. Where the blank.is'composed of such stock that the selvage will not accommodate itselfto the slight foreshortening of the sheets which takes place under theexpanding process, such selvage can be c-rimped slightly, as indicatedin exaggerated form at 11in Fig. 3. The progressive displace.- ment ofthe'metal lends'itself very well to the crimping operation as it will beapparent that it is only as diamonds are fully dcployed that crimpingmay be necessary. This crimping, it,will'be understood, will only beslight at most as the amount of foreshorteningis relatively small,

By deploying the metal downward at both sides of the intermediateselvage portion 8 in Fig. 1, the fully expanded sheet will ultimately bebrought into an inverted V-shape (when looked at end-on), with theselvage 8 extending approximately; parallel to the sel'vages 9 and 10,and the expanded portions 12 and 13 (which will ultimately constituteseparate sheets) sloping off at' an angle to one another. See Figs. 4and 5. The sel vages 9 .and 10' may occupy exactly their originalrelative positions, without ever being moved apart at all.

Ultimately, the selvage portion 8, which is. preferably of, doublewidth, is slit, leaving two separate sheets with margins of the de-"sired width. g I With this general explanation of the procedure, thespecific details and operation of The blank A first passes through theslitting rolls B, B, which cut theg'ro'ups of slits 7, and then throughthe flattening rolls C, C, which take out the upsetting incident to theshttin'g,as alreadydescribed. If deslre'd, the flattening rolls 0, C mayalso have middle port-ions shaped to crimp the .inner marginal portionor middle selvage 8 (see Figs. Sand 8). The rolls B, Band C, v

C act to pull the slit blank A forward, and thus also feed and advanceit to the rest of the machine, including the'expanding or deployingmechanism D. v

As the slit blank A enters-the mechanism D from the rolls B and C, C themiddle selvage or marginal portion 8 rides on to and along supportingmeans suchas a bar 19, which serves to sustain the'pull of the deployingmeans necessary to draw transversely corresponding portions of the sheetat either side of said selvage down out 'of the original plane of thesheet, so as to deploy it and open up its mesh. (In reference tov thesheet as a whole, of course, the pull at either side of the selvage 8 isreally and ultimately sustained by the deploying" means pulling on thesheet at the other side,the support 19in this aspect serving as a mereguide to change the direction of pull)- Asi which deflect and directthese slit portions downward to the first pair of rolls'31, 31,

Y whence they pass to the next pair of rolls,

and 'so on. Owing to the downward inclination or divergence of theguides. relatively to the guide support 19 and the original plane of thesheet, the selvage 8 and the portions of the sheet acted on by theguides and rolls are advanced in diverging planes, and the latter arethus progressively-drawn farther and farther out. of their originalplane, and the sheet thus progressively deployedand expanded.

'As shown in Fig. 7, especially, the guides 20, 21,- 22, 23, etc., notonly diverge (downward) from the supporting guide 19 inreference to theoriginal plane of the sheet,

but also diverge crosswise of the sheet, to

either side from positions closely'adjacent said guide 19 and theselvage portion 8 supported thereby. Likewise, the successive pairs ofrolls 31, 32, 33, etc., along the path of the advancing sheet are. notonlylocated at greater and greater distances down from the guide 19 andthe originaLplane of the sheet, but also terminated at greater andgreater distances to either side of guide 19 and selvage 8, incorrespondence with the positions of the immediately adjacent corners ofthe proceeding and succeeding guide plates 20, 21, 22, 23,24, etc. In.every' case, the upper roll of a pair engages the metal between slitsat the lower edge of the slo mg expanded portion (12 or 13) of the seet, while the transversely corrcspondin 11118X panded portion of thesheet exten s horizontally outward between the rolls. In the onwardprogress of-the sheet, therefore, portions farther and farther fromtheselvage 8 (and hence nearer and nearer'the. selvage's 9 and 10) loosethe shelter of guide plates and rolls,so to speak,and. are drawn out oftheir original plane and expanded. In other words, various portionsacross the width of the sheet (and. of' each ultimate sheet 12, 13) areprogressively and" successively. drawn and deloyed farther and fartherout of their original plane.

The crimping of the edge selvages or marginal portions 9, 10 may be doney rolls 4 0, and theinner margin or selvage 8 may be split by thecutters 41, 41.v These rolls 40 and 41 serve to pull the sheet or blankthrough the machine, as well as-the rolls B, o, 31,32,533, etc. I

The various guide plates and rolls may all be suitably supported by astrong framework 42, 42. As shown in Fig. 9, the various pairs of rolls;have intermeshing gears 43, and

Y idlers 44 are also provided, so that all may and continuous,

be driven from any suitable source of power, as by means of a pulley 45and gears 46, 47 of which the latter is mounted directly on the shaft ofoneof-the rolls 35. The cutters 41, 41 may conveniently be driven-fromthe rolls 40, 40,-as by means of chain belts 48. Obviously, theproduction of expanded metal fabric in this apparatus is progressiye andthe unbroken length in which the fabric can be produced is limited onlyby the length of plain sheet. fed in.

We claim 1. Apparatus for the production of ex- A panded sheet metalcomprisin means for progressively and successiveiy awing portions nearerand nearer an outer unslit marin of a slit sheet out of their originalplane,

to deploy the sheet and open up its mesh,- and means for engaging the adacent unsht margin and thereby sustaining the pull exerted in deployingthe sheet.

2. Apparatus for the production of expanded sheet metal comprising guidemeans for loosely engaging and thereby sustaining a marginal portion ofan advancing slit sheet, and pairs of revolving rolls arranged atsuccessively greater distances from the and plane of said marginalportion for drawing the various portions across the width of the sheetfarther and farther out of their original plane.

3. Apparatus for the production ofexpanded sheet metal comprising means'for sustaining a marginal portion of an advancing slit sheet,interrupted guide means diverging from said sustaining me'ansin. ref-.erence to the original plane of the sheet, pairs of revolving rollsarranged in their intervals for drawingthe sheet along the guides todeploy it and open up its mesh.

4. Apparatus for the production of expanded sheet metal comprising meansfor sustaining a marginal portion of an advancing slit sheet,interrupted i'de means diverging from said sustainin means bothtransversely of the sheet and in reference to its original plans, andpairs ofrevolving rolls arranged in intervals of said. guide means. I

5. Apparatus for the production of expanded sheet metal comprising.means for slitting the sheet; means for crimping one marginal portion;means for progressively and successively drawing portions farther andfarther away from such marginal one out of their original plane, todeploy the sheet and open up its mesh; and means for crimping the othermarginal portion as the slit portions adjacentthereto' are deployed.

6. Apparatus for the, production of expanded sheet metal comprisingmeans for supporting an intermediate portion of a slit sheet, and meansfor progressively and successively drawing portions further and furtheraway 'from that supported as aforesaid downward to either side of thesupport to open up its mesh. I

7. Apparatus for the production of expanded sheet metal comprising guidemeans for supporting an intermediate port-ion 'of an advancing slitsheet, and means diverging outward from one another and downward toeither side from said supporting means for progressively andsuccessively drawing portions of the sheet further and further toeitherside of the supported portion down out of their original plane, soas to deploy the sheet and open up its mesh.

8. Apparatus for the production of expanded sheetmetal comprising guidemeans for, supporting an intermediate portion of an advancing slitsheet, interrupted guide means diverging downward and to eitherside-from that first mentioned, and pairs ofrevolving rolls arranged inintervals of said guide means for successively and progressively drawingportions of the sheet farther and farther to either side of thesupported portion downward out of their original plane, so as to deploythe sheet and open up its mesh. 1

9. Apparatus for the production of expended sheet metal comprising meansfor supporting an intermediate, portion of an advancing slit sheet; andoverhung rolls for progressively andsuccesslvely drawlng portionsfarther and fartherzaway from the successively greater distances'fromthe plane of the support-ed portion of the sheet and N with theirfree-ends at successively greater distances to either side of suchportion.

- In testimony whereof, we have hereunto' signed our names.

EDWVARDT. BEDDING. LEONARD V. CROSS.

